Kinslaying
lies dead after being killed by his son Tyrion.]] Kinslaying is the act of slaying a family member and a great taboo in Seven Kingdoms. Whoever commits it is dubbed a kinslayer. Any individual who slays a member of their own family is believed to be cursed forever in the sight of gods and men. Like incest or violating guest right, kinslaying is considered an abomination to every major religion in Westeros, including the Faith of the Seven, the Old Gods of the Forest, and the Drowned God. The taboo associated with kinslaying is strong enough to stay the hand of even the most ruthless men. Tywin Lannister would have liked nothing more than to kill his son Tyrion the day he was born, because his mother Joanna Lannister died giving birth to him and for the shame he brought on their family for being born a dwarf. However, Tywin felt that House Lannister was above the shame and curse of kinslaying, so he relented and let Tyrion live."Mhysa" If a mother dies in childbirth, her offspring is not considered a kinslayer by the aforementioned faiths because there was no intent and it wasn't really their fault. The reactions of family members to the child can still vary, however, as sometimes they irrationally blame the child for the mother's death. Tywin always blamed Tyrion for "killing" his mother since she died giving birth to him, as did his sister Cersei Lannister. In contrast, his brother Jaime Lannister insisted that it wasn't his fault and always treated Tyrion with kindness and respect. Known kinslaying *King Maegor Targaryen committed two kinslayings: **First, he killed his nephew Aegon Targaryen (son of Aenys). **Later, at his command his other nephew Viserys (son of Aenys Targaryen) was tortured to death. * Prince Aemond Targaryen committed two kinslayings: ** First, he killed his half-nephew Lucerys Velaryon during the Dance Over Storm's End. ** Later, he and his brother killed their aunt Rhaenys with their dragons at the Siege of Rook's Rest. * Prince Daemon Targaryen committed two kinslayings: ** First, he hired two assassins, Blood and Cheese, to kill one of his great-nephews, Jaehaerys and Maelor Targaryen; they are ultimately successful and kill Jaehaerys. ** Later, Daemon killed his nephew Aemond himself in the Battle Above the Gods Eye. * King Aegon II Targaryen committed two kinslayings: **First, he, along with his brother Aemond, killed their aunt Rhaenys at the Siege of Rook's Rest. **Later, Aegon becomes a kinslayer again when he fed his half-sister Rhaenyra Targaryen to his dragon, Sunfyre."And Now His Watch Is Ended" * Arryk Cargyll and Erryk Cargyll, twin brothers who killed each other during The Dance of Dragons. * Brynden Rivers, who killed his half-brother Daemon Blackfyre and two of his sons during the Battle of the Redgrass Field. Years later, he executed another of Daemon's sons. For this deed, he was stripped of his position as Hand of the King and sent to the Wall. * Prince Maekar Targaryen, who accidentally dealt a mortal head injury to his brother, Prince Baelor Targaryen during the trial by seven of Ser Duncan the Tall. * Orys I was killed by his unnamed brother. * Robert Baratheon, who killed his distant maternal cousin Rhaegar Targaryen at the Battle of the Trident."Robert's Rebellion (Histories & Lore)" **In the books, Rhaegar was Robert's paternal second cousin as they both shared a common set of great-grandparents (in Rhaegar's case, his only great-grandparents) in Aegon V Targaryen and Betha Blackwood through their respective fathers, Aerys II Targaryen and Steffon Baratheon. * Craster sacrificed his male offspring to the White Walkers."The Night Lands" is killed by a shadow created by his brother Stannis.]] * King Stannis Baratheon committed three kinslayings: ** He conceives a shadow assassin with Melisandre to kill his brother Renly Baratheon."The Ghost of Harrenhal". ** He executed his brother-in-law Axell Florent."The Lion and the Rose". ** Along with his wife Selyse, he allowed Melisandre to burn their daughter Shireen, believing that R'hllor will allow his army to survive and defeat House Bolton."The Dance of Dragons" * Ser Jaime Lannister, who murders his distant cousin Alton Lannister in his attempt to escape captivity."A Man Without Honor" executes Rickard Karstark.]] * King Robb Stark is accused of this by Lord Rickard Karstark, when the former is about to execute the latter for treason. **Due to the distant blood ties between House Stark and House Karstark, it is debatable if Robb can be considered a kinslayer."Kissed by Fire" *Tyrion Lannister, who murders his father, Tywin Lannister."The Children" Tyrion later sarcastically quipped that because his mother Joanna died giving birth to him, from a technical standpoint he had "killed" both of his parents, making him the greatest Lannister-killer alive."Hardhome" * Obara Sand, who murders her cousin, Trystane Martell, in a plot to take over Dorne."The Red Woman" * kills his own father, Lord Roose Bolton, to ensure that he will succeed him as head of House Bolton.]] Ramsay Bolton, who murders his own father Lord Roose Bolton after the birth of his trueborn half-brother. Ramsay did this for fear that his father would disinherit him for his failures and name his newborn son by Walda as the new heir to House Bolton instead. He then proceeds to commit kinslaying a second time by turning his hunting dogs on his stepmother Walda and his own newborn half-brother, as Walda pleaded for mercy."Home" * Euron Greyjoy, who murders his brother, Balon Greyjoy, by throwing him off a rope bridge at Pyke in the middle of a storm. * Cersei Lannister, who orchestrated the Destruction of the Great Sept of Baelor which killed her uncle Ser Kevan Lannister, her cousin Lancel, and, less egregiously, her daughter-in-law Margaery Tyrell. after the reluctant assassination of Daenerys.]] * Sandor Clegane, who throws himself and his brother Ser Gregor Clegane off the Red Keep and into an inferno created by Drogon, during the Battle of King's Landing. However, as Gregor was technically a reanimated corpse, thus not being alive, this is debatable. * Jon Snow, born Aegon Targaryen, who assassinates his aunt Daenerys Targaryen, to prevent more massacre after Daenerys laid waste to a surrendered King's Landing."The Iron Throne" Alleged and suspected kinslayings * Ser Gregor Clegane, suspected to have murdered his younger sister as well as his father. * Ramsay Snow is suspected of murdering his trueborn half-brother Domeric Bolton, in order to further his position in House Bolton. It is also hinted that Ramsay had impregnated Violet, one of his bedwarmers, and had both her and their unborn child killed."Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken" * Tyrion Lannister has been accused of poisoning his nephew King Joffrey Baratheon at his own wedding. The actual killer is Olenna Tyrell, with help from Petyr Baelish and Dontos Hollard, to spare her granddaughter Margaery Tyrell from enduring marriage to Joffrey. Contemplated kinslayings *In 61 AC, King Jaehaerys I Targaryen and his former Hand Rogar Baratheon chased after Rogar's outlaw brother Borys. When the brothers confronted each other, Jaehaerys intervened, stating that he should fight the traitor, since he did not wish that his old friend would become a kinslayer; Borys scornfully responded "Rather name me a kingslayer than him a kinslayer!", charged at the king and was killed by him. * Even though Rhaegar Targaryen had no love for killing according to his friend Ser Barristan Selmy, he might have been prepared to kill his distant cousin Robert Baratheon as a last resort to end Robert's Rebellion when the two of them faced each other in one-on-one combat at the Battle of the Trident, where Robert ended up killing him instead. * Viserys Targaryen threatened to kill his sister and his unborn nephew Rhaego, in a futile attempt to force his brother-in-law Khal Drogo help him take back the Iron Throne, which instead led to his own death by Drogo. * Randyll Tarly felt that his eldest son and heir Samwell was utterly unworthy to be his heir, so he forced Sam to join the Night's Watch and forswear all right to inheritance; he warned Sam that if he did not comply, he would take Sam out on a "hunting trip" and kill him in such a way that it would look like an accident. The terrified Sam subsequently joined the Watch. In view of Randyll's harsh personality and how much he despised Sam, it can be assumed it was not an idle threat, and he was ready to carry it out. * During the Tourney of the Hand, Sandor Clegane and Gregor Clegane fight furiously over the latter's attempt to murder Loras Tyrell, and seem as if they will battle to the death due to their hatred for one another before Robert Baratheon orders them to stop. Several years later, during the Parley in King's Landing, Sandor confronts his brother and implies that he will eventually kill him. * Stannis Baratheon was prepared to have Gendry, his bastard nephew by blood, burned alive as a blood sacrifice to the Lord of Light. He was thwarted by Davos Seaworth, who set Gendry free the night before. * Tywin Lannister said that after Tyrion's mother, Joanna Lannister, died giving birth to him, he wanted to throw him into the ocean in his grief. He refrained from doing so because Tyrion is a Lannister. * Cersei Lannister intended to kill her son Tommen out of mercy during the Battle of the Blackwater, in case Stannis conquered King's Landing, using the Essence of Nightshade she obtained from Pycelle. She nearly followed through with her plan, but her father saved the day when he entered the moment Cersei was about to administer the poison to Tommen, and declared that his army won the battle."Blackwater" *Lysa Arryn attempted to kill her niece Sansa Stark of jealousy, after watching Littlefinger kiss her, by pushing her out the Moon Door; she was foiled by Littlefinger."Mockingbird" * Jaime Lannister vows to kill his brother Tyrion for murdering their father. * Roose Bolton explains to his bastard son Ramsay that he fathered him by brutally raping a miller's wife. The miller had married without his consent as his lord, so Roose hanged the miller and raped the miller's wife under the same tree that the miller hung from. The next year, she showed up at the Dreadfort with the infant Ramsay, and Roose nearly had Ramsay thrown into the river."Kill the Boy" When Ramsay suggests that they attack the Night's Watch and kill Lord Commander Jon Snow, an action that will unite the Northern Houses against the Boltons, Roose again threatens to have Ramsay killed if he refuses to behave."Home" * Nymeria Sand chastises her sister Obara for stabbing Trystane in the head from behind and killing him instantly; her reason is that she wanted to play a part in the murder. * During the confrontation with Euron, Balon draws a knife to kill Euron, but gets killed. * Smalljon Umber makes a claim to Lord Ramsay Bolton that, had his own father not died on his own, he might have killed him himself."Book of the Stranger" * Realizing that her uncle Euron murdered her father Balon, Yara Greyjoy declared to all witnessed that once she won the Kingsmoot and the Salt Throne, her first order would be to execute Euron. * Euron Greyjoy gives the order to have his niece and nephew, Yara and Theon Greyjoy, killed after he becomes the new King of the Iron Islands, but they flee the Iron Islands and take the Iron Fleet with them in anticipation of the danger."The Door" Quotes In the books In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, the taboo against kinslaying is often mentioned by various characters, among them Tyrion, Ygritte, Davos, Jaime, Rickard Karstark, Victarion Greyjoy, Roose Bolton, Jorah Mormont and Cregan Karstark. It is pretty much the only reason that neither Tywin nor Tyrion ever try to kill Joffrey. Soon after Joffrey is crowned king it rapidly becomes apparent that he isn't simply vicious and cruel: he's a sadistic madman. Moreover, Joffrey is so utterly impulsive that he publicly, brazenly commits acts of petty cruelty that even the most ruthless kings of the past would have hesitated to commit, simply because it would be counter-productive. After Joffrey needlessly starts a city-wide riot, Bronn openly asks Tyrion why they don't simply assassinate Joffrey given that he causes far more problems than he solves, and moreover, actually has a pliable younger brother (Tommen) whom the Lannisters could easily use to replace him as their puppet king. Essentially the only reason Tyrion gives is that he won't kill his own nephew. Jaime Lannister, hearing that Tyrion is charged with Joffrey's murder, muses that in the eyes of gods and men, kinslaying is considered to be even worse than kingslaying. He finds it difficult to believe his brother would commit such a crime. After learning the truth about Tysha, Tyrion is so angry that he tells Jaime (falsely) that he killed Joffrey, and shortly afterwards, he actually commits a kinslaying when he kills his father. Apparently, Tyrion is no longer bothered by the taboo because in the fifth novel, he remorselessly quips on several occasions that he killed his father and nephew, and even takes the "credit" for his mother's death; sometimes, Tyrion contemplates about killing his siblings too. Characters in Westeros who have never met Daenerys Targaryen, as they start to hear news of her string of conquests in Slaver's Bay, are sometimes appalled to hear that her husband Drogo killed her own brother Viserys as she watched. This is largely because they didn't know how much of a monster he was, or that he violated Dothraki law by drawing a sword in Vaes Dothrak and threatening Drogo's unborn son, and thus Drogo was entirely within his rights to execute him. Then again, in these discussions, other characters point out the well-known madness that runs in the Targaryen family, and accurately guess that Viserys might have been not much better than his crazed father King Aerys II Targaryen. In the books, Stannis never admits that he ordered Melisandre to send the shadow demon against Renly, thus it is unclear if he is actually guilty of kinslaying. He was ready, though reluctantly, to have his bastard nephew Edric Storm sacrificed, but Davos prevented that kinslaying. Theon Greyjoy is sometimes inaccurately accused of being a kinslayer for his alleged execution of Bran and Rickon Stark, though as a highborn hostage and ward of the Starks he was not actually their blood relative. He is referred to as Theon Turncloak. Ramsay Bolton is suspected of poisoning his trueborn half-brother Domeric Bolton to take his place as Roose's heir, and Roose confides to Theon that he believes Ramsay will kill any trueborn child Roose has in the future, as the taboo of kinslaying means nothing to him. Though Domeric is never mentioned on the television show, he is mentioned by Ramsay in "Iron From Ice", the first episode of Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series. "Alton Lannister" in the TV series is a renamed version of Cleos Frey from the books. Cleos's mother Genna is actually Tywin's sister, making Cleos a first cousin to Jaime. The TV series apparently renamed Cleos for fear that the audience would be confused why a man named "Frey" was fighting for the Lannisters in Season 2 (before the Freys turn on Robb Stark in Season 3), so they renamed him as a Lannister to make clear what side he is on. Jaime didn't kill Cleos Frey in the books, rather he accompanied Brienne of Tarth on the mission to return Jaime to King's Landing for a prisoner exchange, but he was killed by outlaw bandits along the way. The TV series later made clear in "A Man Without Honor", however, that "Alton Lannister" isn't exactly the same character as Cleos Frey, but is instead a far more distant cousin. Jaime has difficulty even remembering who Cleos's mother is, and Alton says she is Cynda Lannister, not Jaime's well-known aunt Genna. So on the one hand, Jaime was never a kinslayer in the books but the TV series has him kill Alton. On the other hand, the TV series changed the relationship of "Alton Lannister" so he actually isn't a very close relative of Jaime at all - it is debatable how much the shame of kinslaying would apply to a fifth or sixth cousin. Moreover, it's vaguely implied that "Alton" was willing to give his life in a heroic escape attempt if it would free the famous Jaime (though he didn't understand that when Jaime said Alton wouldn't survive the escape attempt, he meant that he would kill Alton to distract the guard). Euron Greyjoy killed three of his brothers: Harlon, Robin and Balon. He is not brazen enough to admit that in public, only to Aeron whom he currently holds captive. Euron commented that Harlon and Robin were killed by his own hands, but Balon was not. Based on the prophecy of Balon's death, it is assumed Euron hired a Faceless Man for the assassination. Victarion killed his pregnant wife (who was either raped or seduced by Euron), thus killing also his unborn nephew. He would have also killed Euron, but Balon forbade him due to the taboo of kinslaying. Killing a relative by marriage, instead of a blood relative, is still considered kinslaying, because in a spiritual sense they have become part of the same family. It's possible that it isn't considered quite as bad but only by a matter of degree, i.e. killing your own brother or son is generally seen as somewhat worse than killing your own brother-in-law, though both are still reviled. Lord Tytos Blackwood's son was killed at the Red Wedding, and he notes that one of Lord Walder Frey's wives was herself a Blackwood, but apparently, the bonds of marriage mean nothing to Lord Walder. This wife was actually the mother of Lame Lothar Frey, meaning that Lame Lothar was responsible for the death of his kinsman Lucas Blackwood - given Lothar's club foot he might not have participated in the fighting directly, but he was one of the main masterminds who orchestrated the massacre and gave the orders. The exact relationship between Lame Lothar's Blackwood mother and the main Blackwood family hasn't been given, though the TV series might have condensed this. Just as kinslaying is considered a worse crime than regicide, violation of guest right is considered to be an even worse crime than kinslaying, so any kinslaying which occurred at the Red Wedding is overshadowed in the narrative by how outrageous and unthinkable it was that Lord Walder murdered guests under his own roof. According to Ygritte, the gods hate kinslayers, even when they kill kin unknowingly. She told Jon Snow a story about a wildling king named Bael the Bard, who kidnapped the daughter of one of the Stark lords, known as "Brandon the Daughterless". One day, the daughter returned with an infant, who eventually became the new Lord Stark. Thirty years later, the son fought against Bael (unaware of their kinship) and killed him. Bael recognized his son and allowed him to kill him, for he could not shed the blood of his kin. When Lord Stark returned from the battle and his mother saw Bael's head upon his spear, she threw herself from a tower in her grief. Her son did not long outlive her: one of his lords (presumably a Bolton) peeled the skin off him and wore it for a cloak. Among the ironborn, it seems that the taboo is limited only to blood relatives, not relatives by marriage: Victarion Greyjoy wanted to kill Euron (for seducing/raping and impregnating Victarion's wife) but did not because Balon forbade him due to the taboo; no ironborn, however, stopped Victarion from killing his wife and unborn nephew, nor did anyone disapprove of that. George R.R. Martin has said that there are considered to be different degrees of kinslaying, depending on the relationship and circumstances, though these may be unofficial. Degrees of kinship are taken into account: killing your sibling or parent are both reviled, and what is often thought of as "kinslaying", but killing a parent is considered the worse of the two. Killing an uncle or nephew is also viewed negatively (such as when Stannis pondered killing his bastard nephew Edric Storm, replaced with his other bastard nephew Gendry in the TV series). All of these variants are considered to be much worse than killing a distant cousin, though this is still frowned upon (Robert Baratheon killed Rhaegar Targaryen, even though they were second cousins, but Robert wasn't universally reviled for this). The aristocracy of the Seven Kingdoms is heavily intermarried and many succession wars centered around rival claims between different groups of distantly related relatives. Martin specifically explained that Rickard Karstark was "stretching" when he warned Robb Stark that if he executed him it would be considered kinslaying, given that the Karstarks branched off from the main Stark family around one thousand years ago.So Spake Martin: Kinslaying in Westeros. On the fifth novel, Cregan Karstark tries to force Alys to marry him, but is imprisoned by Jon Snow. Similarly to Rickard, Cregan warns Jon that "Stark and Karstark are one blood", therefore killing him will make Jon a kinslayer. Cregan's claim is weaker than Rickard's, because Jon's name - as he points out - is Snow, not Stark. In that case, it does not really matter whether Cregan is correct, since Jon does not intend to execute him (not because of the kinslaying issue, but because the Watch does not take part in the quarrels of the realm). It is unclear whether passively allowing a kin to be killed - rather than kill actively - can be considered as kinslaying. Jon, hearing that Axell Florent has done nothing to prevent his brother Alester's death, muses "If he is not a kinslayer, he is the next best thing... what sort of man can stand by idly and watch his own brother being burned alive?". If Jon is correct, Daenerys can be considered as kinslayer for doing nothing to prevent her brother's death; it seems unfair, though, that Viserys, who threatened to cut his pregnant sister open, should have been protected under the same taboo he was about to violate. Martin also said that the circumstances of kinslaying are weighed by degrees (perhaps unofficially). Personally killing your own kin (with a sword, arrow, poison, etc.) is reviled, and hiring an assassin to specifically kill your kin for you is nearly as detested. If two brothers are leading rival armies against each other in war (such as Stannis and Renly), there are several variable outcomes. If Renly had announced to his army that he would reward the man who killed Stannis, or gave standing orders that Stannis was not to be taken alive, it would be viewed very negatively, though not quite as much as if Renly personally killed Stannis. If Renly publicly announced strict orders that he wanted Stannis captured alive, but Stannis accidentally ended up getting killed in the battle anyway, it would not be seen as nearly so negative. If Renly attacked Stannis's army but did not think to give specific orders about whether he wanted Stannis taken alive or dead, it would be seen as morally falling somewhere between the two, because he should have given more specific orders if he was concerned about avoiding kinslaying. Therefore, personally murdering your own parent is considered to be the absolute worst kind of kinslaying - such as when Tyrion confronted his father Tywin with a crossbow and shot him dead. Robb Stark would, objectively, not be greatly blamed for executing Rickard Karstark, because he was a very distant cousin, and rather than "murder" Robb was within his rights to execute him for treason - though he chose to formally carry out the sentence with his own sword in hand. See also * (MAJOR spoilers from the books) References de:Sippenmord pt-br:Fratricídio ru:Убийство родичей Category:Religion Category:Culture & Society Category:Crimes